Career Path in Primaries?
Hey all,
I'm exploring a transition from a direct PE seat to a role on the Primary Investments (Primaries) team at a top shop - think Hamilton Lane, AlpInvest, HVP, etc.
I'm aware of some of the tradeoffs, but would love to hear from anyone who currently or previously worked in Primaries (or is knowledgeable about the space).
- What does the day-to-day work look like?
- How steep is the learning curve coming from direct PE?
- How do you think about long-term career trajectory vs direct investing?
- What are some of the biggest pros/cons that aren’t obvious from the outside?
Thanks in advance!
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Made the same move several years ago. Primaries has it's pros and cons and isn't for everyone.
If you enjoyed the technical or operational aspects of direct investing or want to maintain company level detail / analysis, primaries are not going to be a good fit. If you want to conduct higher level diligence (not modeling out a single business) and have more of an emphasis on a balance of qualitative and quantitative diligence (people, portfolio, fund, strategy, incentive scheme, light cash flow modeling, etc.) then it can be an awesome job.
WLB in primaries is excellent at most shops, hard to find a reason to work past 6-7pm given you often know when funds are going to be fundraising / in-market for months and even years in advance. Ultimately up to you to plan your schedule accordingly. Hours in my seat have been consistently 9-6 with no weekend work.
Learning curve vs. direct is not steep IMO and you should be able to ramp up decently quick. Fund level analysis is a bit different vs. company level but much less technical. Would highly recommend Allen Latta's blog posts, gives a good primer on what you need to know (google allen latta .com).
Would just caution on career trajectory that its easy to make the direct to primaries move but very difficult to do it vice versa if you end up not liking it. Progression at primaries shops can also be slow. People realize its a great WLB option with high earnings potential (incl. meaningful carry $s at the shops you have listed) so turnover at the senior ranks is often extremely low.
Overall, its a great long-term role and tough to beat on a earnings per hour basis. Very interesting role as well given you are exposed to so many different strategies across sectors, geographies and fund sizes. I have no regrets from my move and will be staying in the space for the long run.
Thank you for the incredibly thoughtful response. Essentially all of your aforementioned points align with why I'm leaning towards making the pivot (as well as echo what I've heard from others in the space).
Appreciate you taking the time to shine light on an underrepresented topic here on WSO. Hopefully will be helpful to others in a similar spot.
Can you speak to comp differences?
appreciate the detailed response! Is it possible to pivot into primaries from banking as an associate or does it require direct investing experience beforehand usually?
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